Runaway, 13, spent eleven days in subway system

By Matt Williams New York

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

A 13-YEAR-OLD boy with Asperger’s syndrome spent 11 days in the New York subway system after going missing following a school telling off, his mother claimed.

Police found Francisco Hernandez Jr hiding out in a Coney Island station late last month having survived for almost two weeks on a diet of news stand confectionery and snacks.

His parents claim authorities were reluctant to make his case a priority because they are Mexican immigrants. The New York Police Department denied the claims.

Francisco is believed to have taken off on October 15 after he failed to complete a homework assignment and was told off for not concentrating in class.

According to a report in the New York Times, the youngster walked eight blocks to the Bay Parkway station and boarded a train because it seemed like the best place to hide.

Fearing a scolding from his parents, Francisco removed the battery from his mobile phone.

When he failed to return home from school, his mother Marisela Garcia scoured the nearby subway station — a previous incident had seen Francisco go missing for five hours on the network.

After hours of searching, the police were called. Over the next few days, officers interviewed teachers, classmates and distributed leaflets showing the missing youngster’s photograph.

Francisco told the New York Times that he spent his days riding trains to the end destination before switching tracks and heading in the other direction.

And despite thousands of flyers being distributed, no one recognised or even talked to him, he claimed.

"Nobody really cares about the world and about people," he told the New York Times.

He was eventually found on October 26. A transit officer was studying a sign with Francisco’s photo on when he turned to see the boy sitting in a stationary carriage, it was reported.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Wednesday, November 25, 2009